


A Scarf of Many Colors

by hilandmum



Category: Northern Exposure
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 20:25:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1098243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hilandmum/pseuds/hilandmum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A typical day in Dr. Fleischman's office - or is it? Well, maybe typical in Cicely, Alaska.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Scarf of Many Colors

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wyomingnot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wyomingnot/gifts).



> wyomingnot wanted to read more about Marilyn. I love Marilyn too, and as a knitter, I also especially love that she's a knitter.

A Scarf of Many Colors

Marilyn Whirlwind sat at her desk in the reception area of Joel Fleischman's medical office one Monday morning, casting on the sixty-two stitches to start a scarf.

"What are you making?" Joel asked as he walked by on his way to his office, not because he cared, but to be friendly.

"Scarf," came the reply in Marilyn's usual monotone. "Christmas present."

"But it's July!"

She gave him a look of disdain, prompting him to leave her to it and retire to his office. 

After she'd done six rows of blue stockinette, the door opened and Marilyn glanced up to see Sally Soboleff and her twins.

"Is Dr. Fleischman in?" Sally asked. She wore her usual mismatched attire of red and blue plaid shirt and turquoise slacks, while the little girls looked cute in their matching blue jeans and pink shirts with blue hearts.

"Yes." Marilyn went back to her knitting.

"Can we see him?" Sally demanded.

"Oh, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. The girls just wanted lollipops. I hope he has the green and red ones, huh?"

Marilyn finished the row she was working on and reluctantly put her needles down, then stood. "This way." She walked two steps, reached out and opened the door to the examination room. "Sally's here with her kids." She left the door open and returned to her desk.

"Come in," Joel told the young woman and the two little girls. "What seems to be wrong?"

"I don't know. That's why we came here." Sally ushered her children in and followed them before closing the door again.

Marilyn's needles continued to click together. 

Seven rows later, Sally and her daughters left. Marilyn barely registered that one girl had a red lollipop and the other a green one. She finished another row and was about to change colors when Ruth-Anne came through the door. "That's lovely!" She smiled at Marilyn, whose round face didn't change expression. "I'd like to see the doctor."

"He's in there." Marilyn pointed to the door. "Something wrong?"

"Oh, no. I just stopped by to say hello." Ruth-Anne went through.

Marilyn finished four rows of red before the shop owner returned. Ruth-Anne nodded to Marilyn and opened the door, just as Ed started to enter. "Hi, Ed. The doctor is free."

The young man tilted his head and grinned at her. "Did you need me at the store today?"

"Oh, I don't think so." Ruth-Anne lifted her chin to indicate the door to the doctor's office. "Hope you're alright."

"Yeah, just a touch of the sniffles. Probably my allergies. How about you?"

"Oh, I'm just fine. Well, I'll see you later." She finally left.

He turned to Marilyn and his eyes went wide at the piece she was working on. "Nice. That for me?"

"No."

He shrugged. "I should film you while you do that."

"You think so?" She wondered why anyone would watch someone else knitting for more than five minutes.

Ed chuckled and went into Joel's office.

As patients came and went, Marilyn's scarf grew, two inches of blue, another two of red, followed by a yellow section. The bag behind her desk held balls of yarn in every color imaginable and she intended to use them all.

After she completed five bands of different colors, Chris walked in to find out if Joel wanted to share his lunch hour. He touched the scarf. "One would think you were making that for Doctor Who." He smiled at the growing piece.

"Who?"

Chris laughed but didn't explain. "At least you don't look like Madame Defarge."

Marilyn repeated, "Who?"

Chris shook his head. Before he could knock on Joel's door, the doctor came out. Chris looked over Joel's shoulder as Joel closed the door. "Care for some lunch? I hear the special at the Brick today is their bison burgers."

"That's where I was headed." But Joel wasn't smiling. "We might as well go together."

"You were meeting someone else," Chris guessed. "Maggie, I suppose."

"I wasn't meeting her exactly."

"But you hoped she'd be there. That's alright. If she is, I'll find someone else to share my repast. Sharing a meal with someone is always better than eating alone."

"Who said that?" Joel asked.

Chris smirked. "I did."

"Marilyn, can we bring you anything?" the doctor asked.

She lifted her head long enough to say, "No, thanks." Left to herself, she made considerable progress. Purple, orange, even a chartreuse stripes. 

The door opened and Maurice walked through. "Joel in?" He pointed to the door.

"No." 

"Nice work." He lifted one end of the scarf to examine it. "Your stitches are so even."

"Thanks."

"Guess I'll come back later."

"Okay."

It was quiet for a while, peaceful, as she continued her knitting. Her fingers and the needles flew, and the scarf grew longer. She stopped briefly to eat some dried salmon that she had in her bag, and then went back to her project.

Joel returned alone.

"How was lunch?" she stopped long enough to ask him.

"The food was good." But he still wasn't smiling. "Did anyone come in while I was gone?"

"Maurice. Said he'd be back."

"Well, send him in when he returns."

"Okay." But before the entrepreneur showed up again, a few other patients came to see Joel. Not because they were sick. They only wanted to see him. Marilyn had never seen the office so busy and began to wonder why. What was going on in that examination room? She shrugged it off, having more important things to do than worry over what the doctor was up to.

Around three, Maurice was back.

"Doctor said you could go right in."

"Thanks, Marilyn." The former astronaut strode through the door, someone else who seemed fine and not in need of a doctor. 

He came out four rows later. "You're making terrific progress." Maurice smiled at her.

"Thanks." Her curiosity had reached a peak. "Why are so many people visiting Dr. Fleischman today?"

Maurice's brow furrowed. "Hadn't you heard? We all wanted to see it."

"See what?"

His eyes flashed. "Joel's got a ginormous rack of elk antlers in there."

"And?"

"And no one has ever seen one that big."

"Oh." Curiosity satisfied, Marilyn went back to adding rows of color to her scarf.

Maurice shrugged, shook his head and left.

THE END


End file.
